Angron: Slave of Nuceria: Slave of Nuceria (Volume 11) (The Horus Heresy: Primarchs)

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Angron's tragic descend to madness and his wish to die upon battle was really well done upon, knowing that he dwells upon guilt, hate and rage just adds upon the misery of Angron and ultimately his legion in the pursuit of resembling him. No, seriously, as Kharn is lost to the haze for the first time, the bloody rage literally blots out his initial reactions over three pages. In general, the style St Martin chose for this story, action-heavy and dialogue-rich in equal measure, perfectly matches the spirit of the 12th Legion. Martin utilised a fairly inventive take to examine this and shed further light on his time among the gladiators.

The Slave of Nuceria’s actual plot revolves around the question of Butcher’s Nails that Angron strongly wishes to see implanted in all of his warriors.

He (apparently) did so for the two lost Primarchs and Legions, so given the events covered in this book, and also various other events that are ‘known’ about their antics and method of warfare, one can’t help but question the Emperor’s decision to keep them in service. Angron decides to kick his father Emperor into pulp and undo his work at first opportunity - which remained in domain of theory until finally Horus decided to provide Angron with the vent. The actual reason for their implantation is revealed in the most darkly heart-wrenching episode of Angron’s past).

More curiously still, there are multiple arguments made in favour of the Nails even by sane members of the legion, some of which are fairly compelling. Like the rest of the Primarchs installments, this is a great story on its own, but would certainly feel even richer beside the other existing tales about Angron and his Legion. For one thing, it took multiple prototypes for anyone to get a working set, and even then it was only accomplished by an outside source taking interest in the work involved, and a discovery from a lost planet.Even though the quality of its individual stories may vary slightly, Horus Heresy: Primarchs – the ongoing set of tales about the greatest of the Emperor’s children forging the fate of a whole galaxy – is one of my favourite Black Library series.

Angron's contribution to pre-battle briefings is a distracted, snarling indifference before stalking off. If you know the story of Angron there won’t be too many surprises but its nice to get it from his pov. After all, the aforementioned Space Wolves fulfil the role of Imperium’s executioners, so Angron’s and the World Eaters’ hyper-aggressive style isn’t exactly necessary.In the book, Angron’s previous life is sometimes mentioned by himself, but the larger part of it is shown through the visions of a Legion Librarian, tracing his father’s tortured life path from the beginning. When taken on its own it does benefit from a strong structure, surprisingly memorable characters, a good twist and a number of great individual moments.